Air Force Veteran Ashley Sheffield of Massachusetts is suing the US Dept. of Veterans Affairs for denying her reproductive services because she is married to a woman, according to the Boston Globe.
Reports the Globe:
A disabled Air Force veteran living in Massachusetts who was denied coverage for in vitro fertilization because she’s married to a woman has filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Veterans Affairs, asserting its policy of denying IVF coverage to veterans in same-sex marriages violates the Constitution.
The lawsuit was filed [Aug. 2] by Ashley Sheffield, a decorated Air Force veteran, in US District Court in Massachusetts, records show.
The civil complaint names Veterans Affairs, agency Secretary Denis McDonough, and Dr. Ivan E. Correa, chief of staff for the VA Central Western Massachusetts Health Care System, as defendants.
“LGBTQ+ veterans like Ashley Sheffield who have bravely sacrificed for our country deserve equal treatment when they seek the medical benefits they have earned,” reads the complaint, which calls on the VA to “end its blatant and willful discrimination of veterans in same-sex marriages and provide Ms. Sheffield, and all other veterans denied IVF because of sex and sexual orientation, the health care they have earned.” …
According to the complaint, Sheffield served in the Air Force for nearly 20 years, medically retiring in 2021 at the age of 38.
During her service, she was exposed to jet fuel that contained carcinogens and organic compounds that can affect the reproductive system, as well as high levels of PFAS, substances linked to infertility, according to the complaint.
Under VA policy, veterans with “a service-connected disability that results in the inability of the veteran to procreate without the use of fertility treatment” are eligible for IVF, the suit says. But in order to qualify, the “veteran and their spouse must be a cisgender opposite-sex legally married couple, or other legally married couple with opposite-sex gametes/reproductive organs,” according to the lawsuit.
Read the complete Boston Globe article here.
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